Find out why Foster Gardens still feels like “home” to generations of customers …
For 75 years, the Foster Gardens tavern has been a gathering place in the Foster-Powell neighborhood.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Delightful early-September weather encouraged neighbors and longtime regulars to roll into Foster Gardens on Sunday, September 5, for a tavern anniversary party that looked and felt like a community reunion.
A casual cruise-in filled the parking area with proudly-polished vehicles, while visitors helped themselves to a barbecue buffet and snacks inside and out. Long-time customers reminisced over beers with people they had known for decades, as curious new visitors stepped through the door to check out a place that had already been part of the neighborhood for three-quarters of a century.
The celebration marked the 75th anniversary of Foster Gardens, at 7855 S. E. Foster Road in the Foster-Powell neighborhood.
Here, working the bar for the 75th anniversary celebration at Foster Gardens are Amber Morris and Marty Smith.
From five-cent beers to 75 years
|Seventy-five years ago, entrepreneur and statewide shuffleboard champion Betty Swanson bought the neighborhood tavern on SE Foster Road, becoming one of Portland’s first female tavern owners.
In 1951, a Portland newspaper singled her out as one of very few women in what it then called “a man’s world” for purchasing the bar a year earlier – during a time when Portland reportedly had only about 200 taverns citywide.
Owner Kerry DeWitt shares photos of her parents at Foster Gardens during its 75th anniversary celebration.
Betty, and her husband Ken Swanson, built the business the hard way – working day and night at the bar and serving beer for five cents a glass. A generation later, Foster Gardens remains in the family – now owned by Kerry DeWitt, who took over after her father’s death in 1999.
“I inherited it when my dad passed away,” DeWitt recounted. “So I’ve been the owner since 1999.”
Revelers celebrate the Three-Quarter Century mark for Foster Gardens.
‘Thanking the community for all of their support’
For DeWitt, the anniversary event focused less on nostalgia and more on appreciation for the people who kept the doors open.
“We are thanking the community for all of their support for 75 years,” DeWitt emphasized. “So we have a free barbecue, a cruise-in; we’re having music, and a fun time. And we can’t wait to meet new people.”
During the anniversary celebration, visitors visit the cruise-in going on outside the Foster Road tavern – and talk cars.
Her description matched the afternoon’s relaxed, celebratory feel. Plates piled high from the buffet found their way to tables where older regulars introduced themselves to first-timers, explaining the tavern’s history, in between bites. Customers wandered out to admire classic cars and custom trucks lining the parking lot, then drifted back inside to share stories.
A family business that feels like home
Asked how the tavern managed to stay in business while so many bars have come and gone, DeWitt pointed first to its family roots and its working-class character.
“I think it’s just a family-owned business, and it’s a family community,” she reflected. “That working man’s bar that people go into. They come in after work, have a couple drinks, then they head home. Prices are good, rent is good. It’s all good.”
Enjoying the 75th anniversary celebration with patrons, Kerry DeWitt is all smiles at Foster Gardens.
She contrasted Foster Gardens’ longevity with what has been happening elsewhere in the city.
“I don’t know how it survives 75, while there’s iconic bars closing, and it doesn’t matter where you’re at,” DeWitt remarked. “But this has been a friendly bar. You can come meet new people and have lifelong friends.”
Owner’s roots in East Portland
Although she now runs the tavern, DeWitt’s working life and personal history extended well beyond the bar.
“I don’t tend bar,” she pointed out. “I have a farm in Damascus. I used to show horses.”
Her day-to-day career unfolded in another East Portland neighborhood. “My living was I had a beauty salon for 30 years on SE Division Street,” DeWitt recounted. “I grew up on SE 128th Avenue, and went to David Douglas high school – so, this area: This is home to me.”
Those long-standing local ties helped reinforce the tavern’s role as a community fixture, not just another watering hole on a busy arterial.
The celebration at Foster Gardens goes on into the evening.
Welcoming newcomers and regulars alike
For those who had never walked into Foster Gardens before the anniversary party, DeWitt offered a simple invitation. “Just come on in. If you don’t want to socialize, you can have your quiet time. But if you want to meet new lifelong friends, you can.”
She mentioned how often familiar faces return. “I’ve met so many people that I’ve known for years. (Hey, Kerry! an acquaintance shouts to her) Anyway, I’ve known a lot of these people for a long time,” she reflected. “It’s warm. You can come in by yourself and meet new people and have friends.”
On this anniversary afternoon, that warmth showed up in the easy conversations at every table: Old-timers swapping stories about the five-cent beer era; newer customers learning that one of Portland’s first female tavern owners once stood behind the same bar; and car enthusiasts drifting in from the cruise-in to raise a glass.
Likely, Ken and Betty Swanson had no idea that this bar would continue serving patrons long after their passing. Family provided photo
Seventy-five years after Betty Swanson first took a chance on a tavern in a then-quiet stretch of SE Foster Road, Foster Gardens still functions as a place where people can end their day with a couple of drinks, meet a neighbor, and walk out feeling more connected to their community.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
